


sugar and spice and everything nice

by twelveam



Series: and then the sun [1]
Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22656343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twelveam/pseuds/twelveam
Summary: farmer sun makes their best attempt at making cookies and it comes out — well, you know!
Series: and then the sun [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1629865
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	sugar and spice and everything nice

**Author's Note:**

> this was written for the stardewevents valley valentines [♡](https://stardewsun.tumblr.com/post/190744166773/valley-valentines-prompt-2) !

Penny smothers her giggles behind a book but her mirth is still visible, what with her shaking shoulders and the musical laughter escaping her impromptu shield every few minutes or so. Elliot coughs to clear his throat, holding a cookie delicately between two fingers.

“Well,” he says. “Weeell…”

The full plate of cookies lies on the table between them. Three cookies each with only one bite taken out of them tell a tale a woe, illustrating despair with more elegance than any of his descriptions. Elliot takes note. Sun buries their head deeper into their arms, their upper body sprawled out on the table, and imagines being able to sink into the ground.

The library is empty except for the three of them and Gunther, busy with his archaeology editorials out on the front desk. The only sound is that of his occasionally flipped pages and the slow ticking of a clock. The silence does not last long.

“Artisan goods,” announces Penny in a voice squeaky from barely suppressed laughter. “Sea salt cookies! Behold the true glory of the ocean, in all her splendor.”

Elliot coughs again, covering his twitching lips with one hand. Sun wails into their arms and Penny pats their back, her eyes holding nothing but warmth and glee, tears glittering at their corners as she struggles valiantly to keep from falling into gales of laughter.

“Don’t say it,” begs Sun. “Don’t ask me!”

“My dear friend,” asks Elliot immediately. “Didn’t you taste these at _all_?”

Penny loses her battle. Her bell-like laughter fills their small, hidden corner and Sun feels a little better about it all. It can’t be so bad if they made her laugh this hard. 

Elliot twitches, holding his own laughter at bay, still fighting the good fight. He continues on his noble quest for answers.

“And I must know, did you powder these with salt as well?”

“Yes,” mumbles Sun. “Yes to all of your questions.”

Penny drops her head against Sun’s shoulder and tries to gather herself and fails. Her snickers are only slightly muffled by Sun’s shoulder.

“It’s actually quite sweet!” she says, once she can manage words and Elliot raises his eyebrows so high it sets her off again.

His expression is that of polite incredulity and terrible skepticism. 

“ _Not_ the cookies, Elliot!”

“Ah.”

Sun whines into the circle of their arms and Elliot dusts off his hands to pat the top of their head sympathetically.

“I mean,” continues Penny. “It was very sweet that you were so excited to share something with us that you rushed through making these. You really went out of your way.”

“Oh no,” says Sun, popping up so quickly their hair bounces with them, flustered by the kind words. “It was no trouble at all, to make something like this! I just wish they’d turned out better so I could pass them out but well…”

They gesture at the cookies, sitting innocently in the plate and looking almost edible when they were so clearly not.

“I see,” says Elliot, before clearing his throat, eyes sparkling with merriment. “You could weaponize these, I think.” 

“Death by cookie,” sighs Sun. “They’d never catch me.”

“Well do you have any ingredients left?” asks Penny, her voice taking on a thoughtful tone. “You could make something else to give out.”

“Not these again of course,” says Elliot, too quick to be anything but serious and Sun tilts their head imperiously like a haughty cat, choosing not to take offense. Elliot’s voice is colored with amusement when he continues. “Why not cake? You said you were making strawberry jam recently, I’m sure you have some left.”

The question succeeds in distracting them and Sun makes a soft noise as they think about it, tallying their current harvest in their head. 

“I do,” they say slowly. “And strawberries would be quite fitting, too. Oh, this is wonderful! Thank you, Elliot!”

The glow of excitement infuses their eyes with brightness as Sun sits up straight, clasping their hands together as they look at their friends. 

“Would you mind –,” they begin, a little worried before reading the expressions on their friends’ faces, both smiling warmly and not put out even in the least. “Oh of course! You were going to come along anyway weren’t you?”

“I’ll be borrowing that apron of yours,” sings Penny, already stacking her books and putting them away. “The one with the cute ruffles!”

“I have a few recipes we can try as well. I was researching for a specific scene and ended up with too many to keep track of. I’m sure we can find something useful in the pile.”

Sun blinks away the burning in their eyes and beams. 

“That sounds lovely, Elliot! Thank you, Penny!”

In the end after several hours in the sunny kitchen, with snowy flour in Elliot’s braid and strawberry jam dabbed across Penny’s cheek like a blush, bright laughter and Sun’s happiness swirling about them so potently it could be bottled, they end up with several shortcakes. Decorated in swirls of pink and drops of bright red, with strawberries at the center, the cakes are varying degrees of sweet and made with plenty of love!

There’s more than enough to go around and go around it does! After a few adjustments, everything went according to plan! There’s plenty to share! 


End file.
